The present invention relates to a fastener assembly, a fastener assembly that has particular applicability and utility in the installation of radome panels.
A radome is an enclosure designed to protect radar antennas from outside weather and debris. A typical ground-based radome is constructed of a multitude of panels formed into a spherical enclosure. Each of the panels is connected by a plurality of fasteners, such that a typical 55-foot diameter radome may have more than 6,000 fasteners. Each fastener in a radome must be tightened to a specified torque value to ensure proper connection, and this requires extensive man-hours for fastener installation alone. By some estimates, each fastener takes about a minute to install, leading to over 100 man-hours for fastener installation alone in a typical 55-foot diameter radome.
In current installations, radome panels are often connected by a common nut-and-bolt fastener. A nut-and-bolt fastener requires a user to secure either the nut or the bolthead in place while tightening the other. However, in some situations, an adhesive is applied to the nut portion of the fastener to hold it in place while the bolt is tightened.
Nut-and-bolt fasteners are also likely to loosen over time, requiring even more man-hours in fastener inspection, along with the need for re-torqueing the fasteners over the life of the radome. When maintenance is required, if the adhesive bond on the nut is broken, the fastener may merely spin in place rather than tighten. In such a situation, depending on the configuration of the connection (e.g., the nut and bolt are on opposite sides of the radome panels), re-torqueing or removal of the fastener may require substantially more time, as simultaneous access to both portions of the fastener is not possible.
Thus, there remains a need for an improved fastener assembly which can be quickly installed and requires access to only one side of the adjacent radome panels.